The thigh pads of pants worn by present day football players afford adequate protection to the front of the thigh only and virtually no protection against blows received from the side or from an angle in the area of the vastus lateralis. The conventional thigh pads, which are quite thick, are premolded to fit the curvature of the leg at the front of the thigh. If the preformed pad is extended over the outer side of the thigh so as to cover or partly cover the vastus lateralis, its inherent stiffness will result in wearer discomfort and a considerable loss of leg and muscle mobility.
Another drawback of conventional football pants resides in the fact that considerable shifting of these pads in the customary oversize thigh pad pockets during play is inevitable, resulting in further loss of protection to the player and the necessity for frequent adjustment of the thigh pad during play, which is inconvenient and distracting.
The present invention seeks to improve the protection afforded by pants for football players and the like, and more particularly the invention seeks to provide a greatly improved padding system for the thighs of football players including an additional separately pocketed pad covering and protecting the vastus lateralis.
In carrying out the present invention, a structural arrangement is employed which does not require any significant change in the construction of the commonest types of football pants presently in use, the vastus lateralis pads being readily installable in either newly manufactured or existing pants with only minimum modification of the latter.
In addition to providing adequate protection for the vastus lateralis, in accordance with the main object of the invention, the separately pocketed side pads according to the invention provide the correlary benefit of tending to hold the frontal thigh pads in their preferred positions and minimizing "wandering" of these pads during play.
In the leg padding system of the present invention, a unique hinged relationship exists between the separately pocketed front and side pads, whereby they may hingedly adjust themselves automatically so as to conform to leg curvature in all positions of flexure of the leg, with complete comfort and without restricting leg movement. This important ability of the invention cannot be achieved by employing a single thigh pad which is extended around the side of the leg to the region of the vastus lateralis, as previously stated. The two protective pads utilized in the invention are capable, however, of adjusting themselves slightly with movements of the player's legs, and in response to blows received by the legs during play, due to the elasticity of the pants themselves and the material forming the pockets in which the pads are held.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art during the course of the following detailed description.